We haven’t had television for years, but were able to watch the movie on YouTube. It made for a pleasant evening as I brought in my comfy rocker and we propped our feet on the office desk to watch. The film dramatized what it would be like to live 10 days without power, particularly in cities. In this case, a cyber attack disabled the entire nation.

Although the 2-hour program exaggerated the mayhem (we hope so anyway) in a total grid-down situation, much of the footage of mile-long lines of frustrated people waiting for food and water was real. We kept asking ourselves, “How did Americans get so dependent?”

Most rural areas in this country didn’t even have electric power until 50 years ago. Our 90-something neighbor lived half her life without it. Only a meager percentage of Americans had electricity 100 years ago. Now, without high-voltage juice crackling through the wires 24 hours a day, we cannot fuel up, make phone calls, cook, conduct business or fill a glass with water.

I understand the show’s motive was to get us thinking about preparedness, and was not an actual portrayal of our ineptitude. Still, it is frightening to consider there are people without more than two days of food or water in the house.

An example was the wealthy Manhattan couple who had only “very old caviar and warm champagne” by the second day without power. On the streets, most people were frantically fighting for food after three days. The can of peaches ultimately became a murder weapon during a mugging.

According to the program, 3 million Americans (less than 1 percent) are preppers. The film’s one “prepared” family had a bugout place in Colorado with 2 years of food stashed, 4 months of battery power and 250 gallons of potable water.

The prepper dad, of course a total jerk, was portrayed as a Rambo wannabe running around in Army surplus attire and referring to the site as a “compound.” Really?

We were perplexed why the family had no means to generate more battery power, why they would be “crippled” if their fuel was stolen and why no food was growing anywhere on the, uh, compound. Even if the property is not maintained year round, perennial food can be planted. (See the Secret Garden of Survival by Rick Austin for examples.) Even in winter, wild edibles, insects and game are available for those who study the area ahead of time.

The big question for us, or course, was why the preppers didn’t have a means to get water without electricity. In our opinion, they weren’t prepared. No plans were mentioned for water once the plastic barrels were emptied.

If you have a drilled well, there is no reason not to have your own fresh drinking water without power. A well bucket is the least expensive option and can reach any depth. The well must be free of obstructions, such as an electric submersible pump. In a long-term emergency, however, two men with the right tools can pull the pump. Then all you need is a bucket and rope. A windlass of some sort also makes lifting the bucket easier, especially from deep wells.

Several hand pumps, including the WaterBuck Pump, on the market now can be operated with the electric submersible still in place. Hand pumps should be set up and operational before they are needed.

Another common mistake is long-term reliance on alternative energy and generators for pumping water. In a total grid-down situation, it may be impossible to get parts WHEN something breaks and to get fuel. Different types of storms can also render alternative energy systems useless. So, it is best to have a manual backup for water.

If you haven’t already watched the program, we recommend it. Here’s an interesting and thorough review written by Pat Henry at The Prepper Journal. It’ll get you thinking.

Now, where did I put that can opener?

Photos by The National Geographic Channel and U.S. Government

© 2013 Well WaterBoy Products LLC ♦ WaterBuck Pump™ ♦ Pedal Powered PTO™

Is home gardening ever encouraged as a way to offset the escalating cost of, well, just about everything?

Some say it would be cruel to ask people to grow some of their own food as Americans did during the first two world wars. Literature from those eras, however, indicates people felt good about contributing, they saved money, enjoyed better health and had fun gardening with their families and communities.

We can certainly attest to all those rewards. Also, we are assured our food is organic. How did gardens (and clotheslines!) ever become symbols of poverty anyway? We consider them icons of abundance, fitness and good stewardship.

One of my favorite gardening guides is a World War II booklet put out by International Harvester Company that covers everything from cold frames to compost, pest control and root cellars.

“Get at the garden in time. Make a plan for it. Hang it on the wall. Talk about it … Make up your mind when you will plant the different things — then plant them,” the booklet advises.

Now, here’s the part I really like:

“Take care of it; it won’t take care of itself. Anything worth having is worth working for. What isn’t worth working for isn’t worth anything. A good garden will make the home more homelike.”

I found the 80-page booklet among some old cookbooks. It had obviously been referred to many times through the years, and even has a carefully mended front cover. Although the photos are tiny, Page 3 compares a bountiful garden in North Dakota to another where people have lived for years “and still no sign of growing anything to eat.”

“Grow Your Living,” the booklet warns. “It May Not Be Available for You to Buy.”

When International Harvester composed the booklet, the food stamp program was new, initiated as a temporary benefit that was discontinued two years before the war ended.

EBT snafu

We hope last week’s Electronic Benefit Transfer system debacle in Louisiana does not reveal how people will behave if they fear their benefits might cease or food becomes scarce.

During a two-hour glitch that temporarily disabled EBT card limits in several states, Walmart shoppers in two Louisiana stores filled their carts to overflowing. Some customers reportedly pulled trains of 8 to 10 carts through the store or returned for more free groceries after bringing one load home, according to online reports.

When the system was restored, people abandoned their full carts in store aisles and checkout lines. One Springhill woman walked away from her $700 bill at the checkout as she had only 49 cents on her card.

Meanwhile, we wonder – what were people thinking? Did they fear the system was down for good and they needed to stockpile? (Hoarding food is never a sustainable solution.) Have people become utterly dependent on the system?

End of surpluses

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Stamp Program has been reworked a few times since it was created in May 1939. It was discontinued from 1943 to 1961 “since the conditions that brought the program into being—unmarketable food surpluses and widespread unemployment—no longer existed,” according to the USDA website. So, it is not unthinkable the program could disappear again.

Originally, recipients bought stamps that came in two colors: orange for any food product and blue for surplus. For every dollar of orange stamps bought, the buyer received 50 cents of blue stamps for free, which were exchanged for agricultural surplus items, such as milk, eggs or cheese.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy introduced a food stamp pilot program that no longer included surplus foods. The stamps still were purchased, although the cost was incrementally reduced. The USDA maintained that stamps should continue to be sold so as not to undermine the dignity of recipients. Three years later, Congress made the Food Stamp Program permanent.

The next major change came in 1977 when food stamps were no longer required to be purchased. The move to stop selling stamps disappointed many who had supported the program as a means to help the poor help themselves, not as a direct government handout.

Food Stamp budget cuts

Last month, the government announced a $4 billion food stamp budget cut that will affect everyone on the program now and for future applicants. An estimated 4 million people will be cut from the program in 2014. It is estimated that at least 1 to 3 million will be cut each consecutive year for the next decade.

FoodStamp.org posted some reconstruction solutions, which includes removing illegal immigrants from the program. Currently, children born to illegal immigrants in the United States are entitled to benefits, as are their illegal alien parents. Is it any wonder we can no longer support this program?

Proposed agricultural solutions include farmers markets, donations and co-ops where recipients work for their food. FoodStamp.org says these solutions “seem barbaric to some progressives and others.”

A few quick online searches revealed little practical preparation ideas for recipients to wean themselves from the program. FoodStamp.org suggests that single, able-bodied participants find work or create a nutrition plan such as vegetarianism or a sustainable and self-reliant food lifestyle.

Another option is to combine vegetables with meat, grains, dairy, or other foods to make them last longer throughout the week. FoodStamp.org goes on to recommend ways to make vegetables more interesting, especially for children, by smothering them in dips and sauces. Or, coat celery sticks with peanut butter and decorate with raisins. Also, exchange recipes with Facebook friends.

Some of this seems silly to me, but is actually more advice than I found on the USDA’s site. To its credit, FoodStamp.org also included a short blog about gardening as a suggestion. The food stamp program now allows recipients to buy seeds. Finally — an idea for sustainability.

Teaching people to grow food

The USDA was not initially keen on promoting home gardening. When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted a vegetable garden on the White House grounds, USDA leaders worried her example would hurt industrial agriculture.

Eventually, however, the government endorsed household and community food plots and supplied gardening literature. The USDA also issued a 20-minute film to promote and train people how to plant victory gardens.

The call to plant a Victory Garden was answered by nearly 20 million Americans during World War II.  Those backyard plots produced up to 40 percent of all that was consumed. When prosperity resumed, however, many gardens were abandoned.

Today, as food prices continue to climb and more people are unable to feed their households as before, it is time to relearn those skills. As they did in Cuba when their economy collapsed, we should be planting food anywhere we can – on rooftops, in window boxes, along the sidewalk, next to the garage – anywhere there is dirt. Even without soil, a couple big jars of sprouts growing on the kitchen counter are an excellent source of nutrition.

Modern gardening experts such as Marjory Wildcraft and John Jeavons say we don’t need to plow up the whole back 40 to feed our families. Marjory laughs how she made the mistake of tilling an entire acre for her first garden and ended up with an acre of weeds. Instead, she says now, start small – and keep growing.

Perhaps it is time to bring back Victory Gardens.

© 2013 Well WaterBoy Products LLC ♦ WaterBuck Pump™ ♦ Pedal Powered PTO™

A few days ago, he came home from town with one of those heavy-duty lawn wagons that I had dreams of using to haul logs or rocks from the woods. I didn’t know what Darren was up to, but it sure was nice to see him taking a break from the hand pump machine.

Then, yesterday, there was an odd new appliance basking in the sunshine outside the shop. It had solar panels, a battery bank, regulator, other gadgets and a beautifully painted wooden frame and cabinet mounted to the cart I thought was for firewood.

“Well, here it is,” Darren smiled. “Our new mobile, compact, solar-powered, emergency, energy-supply system.”

Catchy name, I thought. What’s it do?

“What’s it do!?” Darren asked. “Why, it’s a solar generator. It follows the sun to store energy for lights, radios and other electronics. Best of all, we can bring it inside ahead of storms. We can easily pull it by hand anywhere to use power tools with an inverter. Just imagine the possibilities.”

Darren showed me how to adjust the panels for all four seasons and to point it toward the sun for optimum efficiency.

Yay! We don’t have to cut down any trees to have solar power.

Stay tuned for a full blog as we show how we’ve wired our house for DC lights and the inverter.  We’re also preparing detailed plans for this this handy do-it-yourself solar cart. Darren built our 160-watt, 12-volt system of scrap materials and solar supplies we already had on hand. To use all new purchased materials, we estimate it would cost $750- $800 to build, about the same as a fixed solar rack system in the yard.

You can watch a video demonstration here.

Winter Adjustment

The advantages, however, are the unit’s portability and efficiency. It can quickly be maneuvered inside a garage or shed during snow, ice or wind storms. Plus, the panels are easily moved into various positions to absorb the sun’s rays.

Summer Adjustment

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This little cart, combined with our non-electric water pump, just put us a huge step toward disconnecting from the grid. Ah, there is something new under the sun after all.

You can order your DIY plans today!

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© 2013 Well WaterBoy Products LLC ♦ WaterBuck Pump™ ♦ Pedal Powered PTO™

Over the years, I’ve been privileged to meet many elderly country folks who gave little thought to the Great Depression. Perhaps it was because they were youngsters at the time. Instead, I think their contentment during those hard times was because of their families’ self-reliance. Their root cellars were full, water was free and neighbors traded with each other as a way of life.

Another vast difference is that most rural homes didn’t have electricity in the 1930s. In fact, many areas were not electrified until the mid-1950s. As such, country folks did their chores by hand, grew and preserved their own food, and relied on horsepower and each other for jobs too big to tackle alone. Their skills were not limited to a single talent. On any given day, a farmer could find himself as a carpenter, veterinarian, plumber, mason and mechanic – using mainly human-powered tools.

When electric lines, inexpensive fuel and motorized machinery reached everyone, those old treadle sewing machines, galvanized wash tubs, hand-operated push mowers, kerosene lamps, hand pumps and all manner of non-electric tools and appliances were tossed in the city dump. Horse-drawn farm equipment was left to rust behind barns or, worse yet, hauled to the front yard to be decorated with petunias.

With family farms being taken over by industrial agriculture, Americans migrated by the millions to the suburbs to mow 3 acres of grass every Saturday and drive to the supermarket for corn dogs, potato chips and year-round watermelon.

Compared to many nations, we Yankees are ridiculous – turning up the heat in winter so we can take off our sweaters, and then turning down the air-conditioner in summer so we have to wear jackets indoors in July. We had enjoyed decades of a seemingly unending supply of cheap fuel, plentiful food and clean water, and many of us simply never practiced conservation.

Diagram from The Earth and Its People, 1940.

Reading a high school book from 1940, I think I might know where our thinking was skewed. The book details how it took millions of years for fuels (coal, oil, gas) to form below ground. The book points out that once the fuel sources are gone, they are gone forever. That was it — one little sentence.

Then the book goes on to rave about all the wonderful conveniences and luxuries we have now because of our “wealth of abundant fuels”  (compared to “backward” countries and our poor, unsophisticated ancestors).

Of the two dairy farms I grew up between in the 1960s, the family to the north had 9 kids; the other to the south had 14. Yet they fed all those children well.

My friend, Janet, was second youngest among her clan, behind five brothers and two sisters.I remember only once seeing Janet in new clothes – two cotton summer suits her sister made in high school sewing class. The chest freezer in Janet’s huge kitchen was as big as a ’69 Beetle Bug and packed to the top with bread and homegrown veggies.

To the south, Rosemary was the baby in her family of mostly girls. She never had a new dress or shoes. Our parents did not have air-conditioners, leaf blowers or jet skis. Looking back, none of us considered ourselves poor. Money was scarce, but food was not.

I especially loved eating supper at Rosemary’s house in summertime. After helping bring in the cows for milking, we’d devour plates of fresh-baked bread smothered in warm applesauce, pitchers of right-from-the-cow milk and ruby-red strawberries. The kids scrunched together on long benches along both sides of a 10-foot table, but there was always room for one or two more.

Our parents never paid any heed to a food pyramid. We simply ate an abundance of whatever was in season. Many August meals were nothing more than corn on the cob as big as our forearms. Butter dripped from our elbows, and we thought it was the best dinner anywhere.

My mother made raspberry jam in a kettle big enough to boil a hog. At other times, the same kettle held squirrel soup, dill pickle brine, stewed tomatoes or wild hickory nuts. I could not say so then, but admit now that I do not care to eat raccoon, our main winter meat back then. But, because big, fat Wisconsin coon hides brought $35-$40 each in the 1970s, we scoured the woods for them nightly. The greasy meat was merely a byproduct we did not waste.

Still, although many of us ate from the land and lived by the motto “waste not, want not,” most of our tools and household items functioned on electricity and that cheap fuel I mentioned. Reversing that way of living will not be so easy. Our lives have been built around power and mobility. Who among us can sharpen (or even use) a crosscut saw, make lye soap (without store-bought ingredients), build a cistern or cut grain with a scythe? Only those who are 60+ seem to recognize what a well bucket is or have experience hand-pumping water.

While we are growing as much food here as possible in every season with our saved seeds, heating with wood we cut, and can get water without electricity, we still are on the grid – although working steadily at pulling the plug.

I have seen others, however, invest tremendous energy (and much money) converting to wind or solar systems in an attempt to keep their same comfort level off grid. That is rarely possible. Many, too, are building stills to keep their chainsaws, lawnmowers and roto-tillers going. While I admire their ingenuity, I believe we need to also teach our children not to rely on alternative energy, but to do things by hand. Long before the Industrial Revolution, societies flourished worldwide, built by human muscle.

I am thankful now for the experience of living from the land as a youngster, which has proven useful as we relearn to live frugally and without power. I’m not cooking any coon, though, and have a long way to go before I can run a household as efficiently as Great-grandma did.

Two Pumps in One — The submersible pump is designed for well casings as small as 4”. The specially-made electric submersible pump used by the windmill industry can be mounted on the bottom of the manual pump cylinder, pictured at right. A tank and booster or jet pump at the surface can supply pressure for indoor plumbing.

The submersible pump has been successfully used with 1 7/8” open-top deep-well cylinders, but never tested with larger cylinders for shallower depths. We hope to offer the submersible pump with larger cylinders for shallower wells after successful field testing.

Open-top cylinders are designed so the plunger leathers can be replaced without removing the drop pipe. The plunger is attached to the end of the sucker rod and simply pulled up through the drop pipe.

The submersible pump used with this system is a deluxe stainless steel Flint & Walling S-model pump with Franklin Electric’s stainless steel submersible motor.

If you need the ideal back-up water supply system for your deep well, contact us today!

© 2013 Well WaterBoy Products LLC ♦ WaterBuck Pump™ ♦ Pedal Powered PTO™

That’s Darren in about the 4 o’clock position filling a 55-gallon barrel with the WaterBuck Pump.

It’s always exciting to see ourselves in the news. Being featured in Farm Show magazine is especially an honor.  Farm Show is comprised of “made it myself” ideas born in farm shops — just the sort of thing that goes on around here.

On Page 17 of the September-October 2013 issue, Darren is pictured using the WaterBuck Pump. Writer Jim Ruen says the “Home-built, two-handed pump lets Darren Holliday pull big volumes of water from an 80-foot deep well by hand.”

And, as if that wasn’t enough, on Page 30, our Pedal-Powered PTO has some prime real estate next to “Zip-Tie Chicken Domes and Greenhouses.”

This 44-page newsprint-type magazine is chocked full of inventions and innovative ways to do things more economically, environmentally-friendly or less labor-intensive.  I especially enjoyed reading how a guy named Dallas Flynn built a solar-powered greenhouse in northern Minnesota and how Tim Gogerty is turning straw into erosion-control waddles in Iowa. By the way, that Zip-Tie Dome really looks interesting. Created by farmer John Hurt of Tennessee, the kit includes an ingenious connector for PVC pipe, allowing folks to build portable greenhouses and chicken coops that stand up to frequent moving. Bravo.

You can read all about these and dozens more nifty ideas in the magazine. Some of the stories, including the one about the WaterBuck Pump, are available to read online.

 Anchoring the Well Head  

I would never have thought the friction created against the inside of the cylinder wall  (when pumping from a deep well with a large cylinder) was so intense that a 500-pound pump system would slip up through a tightened well seal under operation.  But it is true! As you can see from the pictures, I had to anchor down the wellhead with chain to keep the drop pipe in place. The mechanical advantage of this pump is incredible!

Windmills are also known for pulling up the entire pump system.

So far, we have pressurized the tank to 50 psi, not by an air compressor, but by pumping water into a conventional pressure tank. Each pound of pressure is equal to 2.3 feet of vertical lift (50 psi. x 2.3 feet = 115 feet). We are pumping from a static water level of 80′ with a 4″ cylinder and pressurizing a tank (80′ + 115′ = 195 feet of lift). Now that the wellhead is secured, we can continue testing.

Do you know what size windmill is needed to pump water to an 195′ elevation operating a 4″ cylinder?

© 2013 Well WaterBoy Products LLC ♦ WaterBuck Pump™ ♦ Pedal Powered PTO™

True freedom means not relying on the government or anyone else when disaster strikes, even if life never returns to normal.

Missouri filmmaker Sophek “Sean” Tounn is on the last leg of a three-year undertaking to help others think beyond preparing for a single-event disaster, and instead develop self-reliant skills to last a lifetime.

Citing Hurricane Sandy as an example, Tounn said the modern way of living is not beneficial to health or longevity. Many people have become too dependent on the government or others to help them survive a calamity.

Sean filming Darren with the WaterBuck Pump here in May

“This film is about living in such a way that we’re less dependent on outside entities,” Tounn said.

A 150-page booklet, “Henry and the Great Society,” spurred Tounn’s interest in survival, homesteading, permaculture and off-grid living about eight years ago when he came upon the fictional tale of a family’s happy life destroyed after connecting to the grid and becoming consumers – unhappy, unhealthy, debt-ridden, overworked and dependent.

Never forgetting what he had read years earlier, Tounn contacted agrarian author Michael Bunker about the possibility of a film that would include aspects of Bunker’s book, “Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind.” Bunker was skeptical at first because he is approached often by producers who are simply looking for material. When Bunker realized Tounn was sincerely interested in the lifestyle, he agreed to participate in the project.

Agrarian author Michael Bunker

Last year, Tounn began rounding up and filming specialists in a range of homesteading topics all across America for “Beyond Off-Grid,” a documentary to inspire people to become self-sustaining. The film is comprised of five major sections – family, food, history, natural building and water.

Survivalist Gardener Rick Austin

“People think of water as an unlimited resource, but they don’t realize how it is controlled by only about 10 major corporations,” Tounn said on a recent Preparedness Radio Network Secrets of a Survivalist program with host Rick Austin, author of the “Secret Garden of Survival.” Austin is featured in the documentary as an off-grid, permaculture expert, who is now in his third season of forest gardening.

To be truly free, Tounn said, people must live completely independent of the grid – including the food grid, electrical grid and water grid.

Although Austin grew up in the country with an apple orchard and has gardened most of his life, he didn’t have all the skills he needed when he embarked on an off-grid lifestyle in the Appalachian Mountains. Austin said he began researching how ancient societies survived without electricity and refrigeration, relatively modern amenities.

Rick Austin with his bees

“They did it for thousands of years,” Austin said of living without refrigeration. Austin said he is actively acquiring the skills to live off-grid comfortably and for a lifetime.

Also on the radio program with Tounn, “Beyond Off-Grid” executive producer Jason Matyas, founder of True Food Solutions, said he believes the United States is in a slow economic collapse that could accelerate at any time. Unemployment is more likely at about 25 percent overall, and 40 percent in areas such as Detroit, instead of the meager 10 percent reported officially.

“Government policies are only making it worse,” Matyas said of the unemployment crisis.

Matyas said that unless people are growing their own food and establishing networks now with their neighbors to buy locally and in bulk, they may become nameless victims in a catastrophe. It does not matter how much gold you have if you can’t grow your own food, he said.

“If you opt for convenience over the work it takes to be self-reliant, you will forever be a slave to the system,” Austin added, explaining how some have questioned why he spends time gardening and canning produce.

Cody Crone at his off-grid home

Others in the film include Cody Crone, who lives with his family off-grid in the Pacific Northwest. Crone, also known as Wranglerstar on YouTube. Crone said he has taken a holistic approach to beekeeping, forsaking the protective suit and smoke, and has never been stung.

Scott Howard of Earthen Hand

Another participant is Scott Howard, CEO of Earthen Hand Natural Building, a company specializing in building homes of rammed earth, cobb or adobe gathered near the construction site rather than hauling in expensive, prefabricated materials. Even people who have no construction experience can sculpt their own home, Howard said in an online video clip.

Permaculture expert Paul Wheaton

In another clip, permaculture expert Paul Wheaton of Permies.com, a large online forum site, said people are getting sick from high-tech solutions instead of using the low-tech remedies provided in nature.

Author Marjory Wildcraft, a former financial consultant who has traveled the world to speak to survivors of modern economic collapse, will explain, among other things, how to build self-reliant communities and embrace the lifestyle.

“Many people turn towards prepping and self-reliance out of concern for possible collapse,” Wildcraft said. “But really, this is a lifestyle that is ultimately the wisest choice for humanity. I’ve found greater and greater satisfaction and joy the more I let go of dependencies on the system.”

Bunker, who has authored several survival-related books, said most “preppers” store a supply of food and buy a generator with the mindset of “making it through to the end” of a calamity. Their idea is that life will eventually return to normal, he said.

That line of thinking is consumer-based rather than production-based, Bunker said, explaining the huge difference between prepping for an event and practicing a lifestyle of production.

When Darren was filmed here in May, he related how many people also overlook the need to have a reliable way to get fresh water without any source of electricity.

“People will spend thousands of dollars on a micro-grid system to run their whole house,” Darren said, “but will spend as little as possible for a manual water pump. Yet, water is critically more important than convenience and gadgets.”

The film is set to be released at the end of the year or early 2014 depending on funding. Presenting it to the public is a mission fulfilled for Tounn.

“I just want people to know, the old-path way might be hard at first, but look toward the future — the future of your children, your community, your country,” Tounn said. “A stronger bond with family and more a peaceful way of life are reasons enough to explore this way of living.”

To learn more about the film, see video segments or to donate to the project, visit www.beyondoffgrid.com. To see more photos, visit our earlier blog. Also, you can read my first blog on Mother Earth News about this exciting project. Donate $30 or more to help complete the film on time, and you’ll get a copy of the DVD in the mail.

© 2013 Well WaterBoy Products LLC ♦ WaterBuck Pump™ ♦ Pedal Powered PTO™

The capacity per stroke of our pump, so far, for a deep well application, is measured in quarts and ounces with a maximum of 3 quarts and 6 ounces in one stroke. In an application with a 6″ cylinder, with static levels 40′ and under, the output per stroke is measured in gallons and quarts.

We have a video of a 64-year-old grandmother pumping 7 gallons a minute from a deep well using the WaterBuck Pump. She pumped that much water with only 19 half-strokes of the handle and it was easy for her. To get the same yield of 7 gallons from a commercial deep well hand pump with the same application, a fit, tall, strong man weighing around 200 pounds would have to pump the lever 140 times. I doubt he could even get to 60 strokes and yield 3 gpm before he became exhausted.

Be prepared and have a simple and easy to use manual pump that can provide your family’s daily water needs, and for livestock and garden during a power outage. Contact us for a price quote. 

Here is our pump installation video to give you an idea how to install a WaterBuck Pump system without a boom truck.